Preparation
by general wildcat
Summary: So what does Chad do to get in the zone before the biggest game at East High? Just a little idea from HSM3, way before the opening scene in the middle of the game. C&T oneshot - you knew it was!


Alright, I admit it. I was looking at more HSM pictures. I'm sorry, but going through the list of stories around here we do need more C&T stories. And no, I'm still not combining their names into one name yet. Gimme a little more time, I'll warm up to it eventually. That's besides the point. The point is, follow the old saying: a picture is worth a thousand words. And surely enough, most of my stories and/or one shots are over a thousand. XDDD So yeah, this means it's another one shot. Not necessarily a deleted scene but...actually, I'm not entirely sure what it is. So let's just call it Chad and Taylor having their time before the championship game senior year. You know with the talking and the pep talk...wait a minute, why do I bother talking up here when you probably already know?  
Disclaimer: No comment, we already know.

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"Ok team, get changed!" Coach Bolton announced as he clapped his hands together, their thunder echoing through the boy's locker room. "Exactly one hour left until game time so I want everyone in their uniforms and on center court as soon as possible. And right before the game we will meet back in here to have a team talk. This is the last game of the season. So let's make it count and win the title of back-to-back champions!"

Loud whoots and hollers emerged from the basketball players as it ended in a thunderous applause. The boys turned back to their lockers and pulled off their clothes they had arrived in and changed into their red and white jerseys.

"I can't believe this." Troy shook his head in disbelief. "This is the last game of the season. Our last game as Wildcats."

"Yeah but think about it this way," Chad grinned as he punched his best friend in the arm, "we're leaving East High in style. And we're taking that shiny new trophy with us."

Troy chuckled. "West High is coming back for revenge after the beating we gave them last year." he stated.

"Hey c'mon. They don't stand a chance against us." Chad shook his head. "It's all uphill from here Troy. After this we're goin straight to the big leagues. Everything just keeps getting better and better."

"Spoken like a true co-captain." Troy grinned as he threw on his jersey top. "So you ready to get out those last minute drills?"

"Actually I gotta run to meet someone first." Chad replied, tying his sneakers.

Troy smirked knowingly. "Taylor?"

Chad chuckled faintly and nodded. "Yeah. I just wanted to see her before the big game. You know, have that extra encouragement."

"That's why I met Gabriella before I came here with my dad." Troy said. "I already told him that we're gonna meet him at my house for the after party."

"Yeah, all we gotta do is win. Hope you saved the receipts on all the party favors." Chad joked.

Troy rolled his eyes. "And by the way, you're welcome for the ride here."

"Thank you." Chad answered as he took his foot off the bench. "So what do you think? Do I have enough time to chat with Tay?"

"I don't know." Troy shrugged innocently. "What time is it now?"

Chad blinked and looked down at his watch. His face slowly fell. "Oh cow biscuits..."

Troy raised an eyebrow, "Cow biscuits?"

"I gotta run like now or I gotta wait like three whole hours to see her!" Chad gasped. "See ya before game time, man!" he called after Troy as he dashed out.

"Dude, you forgot to change shirts!" Troy called after him. "And did you remember your lucky socks?"

Chad moaned as he ran back into the locker room. He rushed to change from his once clean socks to the ones stowed away in his gym locker and then pulled off his t-shirt as fast as he could and replaced it with his jersey, not realizing he had placed it on backwards. "See ya soon Hoops!" Chad yelled as he ran out again, ready to try his luck again.

Troy just shook his head as his friend took his leave. But he still didn't understand Chad sometimes. He raised an eyebrow and made a face once more. "...Cow biscuits?"

-CT-CT-CT-CT-CT-

"I'm here! I'm here!" Chad called as he ran down the hall.

Taylor's head shot up as she stood up straight after leaning up against the lockers. She moved some angle-cut black bangs out of her face, the remainder of which was held back by a red headband. She cocked her hip towards the side and placed a hand on it, unable to help but smirk. "I've been waiting. What took you?" she inquired.

Chad stopped a few feet or less in front of her. He leaned forward, his hands on his knees, as he tried catching his breath. "Locker room...talking...Troy..."

"That explains it." she nodded. "It also explains why you have your shirt on backwards."

Chad blinked and stood straight up. His chocolate brown eyes scanned down to see his last name, Danforth, in front of him instead of his team number. He gave a cheesy smile and held up a finger. "One second." he promised.

Taylor just laughed and leaned up against the lockers again, her hands covering her mouth in laughter and her eyes shut as Chad removed the jersey and turned it around before putting it back on.

"Ok, you can look now." Chad said as he straightened out his jersey.

Taylor giggled as she opened her eyes and moved her hands onto her arms, almost as though they were crossed, and shook her head playfully at him. "You know you don't have much to hide, Chad. I'm sure plenty of other girls have seen your abdominal muscles."

"Hey!" Chad gasped. He ran the last few inches to Taylor and wrapped his arms around her, spinning in circles. "Don't you make fun of my muscular chest area!" he laughed.

Taylor only giggled as she grasped onto his arms, her feet just barely above the ground.

"And look at you, with all the Wildcat spirit." Chad added as he placed her down, his arms still around her, as he glanced over her attire. All red and white clothing, and unlike most girls would complain about stripes making them look fat, the ones on Taylor's shirt did her absolutely no harm.

"I had to come prepared. You know I'm always there-" Taylor started. She cut herself off when she wrinkled her nose. "What is that stench?"

Chad chuckled. "Lucky socks. Whole team's worn their same socks for three straight games we won."

Taylor's eyes widened in horror. "Ok, let go of me." she insisted, trying to get loose. "I am not coming within five feet of you until that smell is completely disposed of!"

Chad laughed, his grip on her tightening. "Nice try, Tay, but you can't escape the skunk socks!"

Taylor just shook her head and barely managed to get out of Chad's grasp.

"And look at it this way," Chad added with a grin, "it'll be better than after the game. You know, when I'll be all sweaty after a long hard game and wreaking of body odor..."

Taylor shuddered and tried to refrain from making a face. "You're just trying to get my goat, aren't you?" she asked, folding her arms and partially turning her body towards him.

"Maybe." Chad said coyly with a shrug of his shoulders, taking one step closer to her. "Is it working?"

Now it was Taylor's turn to smirk. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"I think I'll take my chances." Chad decided as he gently pulled her in for a kiss, which Taylor didn't seem to object to. She smiled as they pulled out of the kiss, her hands going around his neck and his arms around her waist.

"I guess I can deal with the socks on their own for five more minutes." she decided. Just as Chad was about to speak, Taylor held up a finger. "But can you at least try to shower before the after party?"

"Your wish is my command." Chad smiled with a nod. "So are you ready to watch us kick some West High butt?"

"As always." Taylor nodded, grinning. "I'm always there to support you. You're going to play a great game."

"And Troy's gonna lead us to victory like he always does." Chad agreed as-a-matter-of-factly.

"You don't know that." she shook her head. "Look who's talking, co-captain."

"Hey, Troy's been leading this team since sophomore year." Chad replied. "I'm not even sure how I ended up as a co-anything at all."

"Because without you there would be no team." Taylor said simply.

"I don't follow." Chad shook his head.

"Have you noticed how much energy you always have? How much effort you always put into the game? You push the team forward, Chad. You're their encouragement. You give them a reason to want to play every game." she explained. "It doesn't matter how you made co-captain this year. No matter how you slice it, you earned it."

"But Troy's the leader. He's the one who makes all the rules. He's the brains and the speed demon. Without him there's even less of a team." Chad replied. "As far as I see it, around here, I'm usually just second best to Troy."

Taylor just smiled warmly and shook her head. "Not in my eyes."

Chad smiled and looked down, then up at Taylor. "See, this is why I had to see you before the game. What am I gonna do without you next year?"

"Chad, can we please give college talk a rest?" Taylor asked, tilting her head to the side. "I know it's a big deal and both you and Troy are looking forward to U of A, not to mention how many college scouts must be out there tonight, but it's all right around the corner from here. And surely, with all the differences we have, there's bound to be more for us to talk about than university."

"Yeah, you are right." Chad nodded. "You always know what to say."

Taylor just shrugged and smiled. "Why else would I be here?"

"Hm, to see your future NBA-playing boyfriend?" he inquired hopefully.

"No, that's not it." she giggled, shaking her head.

"Oh you don't mean that." Chad teased as he pecked her forehead.

"Well, not entirely." Taylor admitted, looking up at him. "I'm all for the future, but there's going to be enough talk about that tonight. So can we give it a temporary rest?"

"Of course." he agreed, resting his forehead against Taylor's. "So, I can count on spotting you easy out there tonight?"

"You know I'll be right up there cheering for you, captain." Taylor replied.

Chad chuckled modestly. "I'm no captain."

Taylor just smiled and gave him a quick yet gentle peck on the lips.

Chad's face lit up right away. "On second thought, call me captain." he decided quickly.

Taylor giggled. "Ok, enough fraternizing with the peanut gallery. You've got a game to finish preparing for."

"Ok." Chad sighed playfully with a roll of his eyes. "But first we have to take a picture."

"A picture?" she blinked. "What for?" Then again, maybe she didn't necessarily need to know what for. Chad was probably just stalling, trying to get in more 'encouragement' and 'pep talk' time.

"Well I'm ninety-nine percent sure that we'll be leaving with a victory today, so we might as well remember how we were before the game started." Chad said calmly as he pulled out his cell phone.

"And the final one percent?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, so maybe there's a one percent marginal for error." Chad chuckled. "But the odds are in our favor. We're gonna kick butt tonight and go home as back to back champions."

"You have it all planned out, don't you?" she replied.

"Sure do." he nodded. He turned his phone towards them, holding it as far out as he could, and wrapped his other arm around Taylor's waist. "Smile."

"Trust me, I already am." Taylor replied with her smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck, standing right by his side and her face almost right up against Chad's side by side.

Chad smiled as he glanced at her, then back at his phone. He snapped the picture of them on his phone and then faced Taylor, his arm still around her waist as he looked at the picture now saved on his phone. "Perfect."

"And you'll be sure to send me that picture?" Taylor inquired with a smile, her arms still around his neck.

"First thing during free period tomorrow." Chad promised as he put his phone away.

"You'd better get into the gym. You've got a game to win." Taylor said.

Chad smiled and nodded. "What team?" he asked, though his voice much softer and quieter than when he shouted it out to his team.

Taylor giggled. "Wildcats." she answered in the same tone.

"I can't hear you." Chad chuckled, moving in closer to her. "What team?"

"Wildcats." Taylor repeated with a smile, moving the same distance.

"What team?" he asked once more, his voice becoming lower each time.

"Wildcats." Was her response, imitating his tone.

Now Chad's face was almost completely in front of hers. His eyes locked with hers, his voice barely audible now. "Wildcats..." But just as Taylor opened her mouth to give her answer, the same one the basketball team always did, their lips connected and Chad's empty arm wrapped around her back, pulling her in closer. as fast as they both knew they had to make that exchange, they weren't willing to let go so easily. The couple pulled out of the kiss as slowly as they could, their foreheads resting on each others once again, and gazes still lost in each other.

"Good luck tonight. And be careful out there." Taylor told him.

"I always am." Chad said with a smile. "See you at the after party?"

"I'll save you a song." Taylor smiled. "And maybe then you can walk me home?"

"We'll take the long way." Chad agreed. "But until then, I'll be keeping an eye on you in the stands."

"I'll hold you to that." Taylor said as she pulled away carefully. "I have to go meet Gabriella and Kelsi so we can get some good seats."

"Don't I get anything else for good luck?" Chad whined playfully.

Taylor rolled her eyes and smiled. "Oh, alright. One more." She pecked him on the cheek and backed away. "Get your head in the game, Chad." she added with a wink before walking off to meet her friends.

Chad smiled as he watched her leave, knowing that in a matter of seconds he'd have to rush to the gym to meet the team - and most likely explain where he's been for who knows how many minutes now. But he knew that it wasn't going to stop him, or the team, from taking home the seniors' final victory at East High.

He nodded to himself, the smile still glued onto his face. "My head is always in the game."

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Yup, that was another oneshot. Did I put too much fluff in there? I thought there was a lot of fluff in there. o_0 Oh well, whatchya gonna do, right? So hopefully it was good overall. The picture idea I got from the actual picture I was looking at...only they were in the gym and it was like a behind the scenes or on the set picture or something. o-o Either way it was the same idea. And I also want to say thanks for the few reviews (at least at this point that I'm typing this) I got from my "deleted scene" oneshot from HSM2. So now, it is past midnight, I've got school and work tomorrow, so I be off!


End file.
